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39 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
What is an Organism?
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An Organism is a life-form (a living entity made up of one or more cells).
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What are the Five Fundamental Characteristics of organisms?
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The Five Fundamental Characteristics of organisms are:
1. They use energy 2. They are made up of cells 3. They process information 4. They replicate 5. They evolve as populations |
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What are the two greatest unifying ideas in all of science that laid the groundwork for modern biology?
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The two ideas are: the cell theory and the theory of evolution by natural selection.
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What is a Theory?
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A Theory is an explanation for a very general class of phenomena or observations.
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Who is the scientist that discovered cells by examining the structure of cork (a bark tissue) from an oak tree?
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The scientist is Robert Hooke.
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Who is the scientist that made the first observations of human blood cells and of sperm cells?
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The scientist is Anton van Leeuwenhoek.
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What is a Cell?
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A Cell is defined as a highly organized compartment that is bounded by a thin, flexible structure called a plasma membrane and that contains concentrated chemicals in an aqueous (watery) solution.
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What are the two components of most cell theories?
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The two components are:
1. The first describes a pattern in the natural world 2. The second identifies a mechanism or process that is responsible for creating that pattern. |
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What does the complete Cell Theory state?
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The complete Cell Theory states that all organisms are made of cells, and all cells come from preexisting cells.
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What is a Hypothesis?
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A Hypothesis is a proposed explanation.
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What is a Prediction?
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A Prediction is something that can be measured and that must be correct if a hypothesis is valid.
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Who is the scientist that wanted to determine if microorganisms could arise through spontaneous generation?
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The scientist is Louis Pasteur.
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What is Darwin's proposal called that states that the characteristics of species can be modified from generation to generation?
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The proposal is called "descent with modification."
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What is Evolution?
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Evolution is a change in the characteristics of a population over time.
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What is Natural Selection?
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Natural Selection is the process by which individuals with certain heritable traits tend to produce more surviving offspring that do individuals without those traits, often leading to a change in the genetic makeup of the population.
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What does it mean when traits are Heritable?
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Traits are Heritable when they can be passed on to offspring.
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What is a Population?
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A Population is a group of individuals of the same species living in the same area at the same time.
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What is Artificial Selection?
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Artificial Selection are changes in populations that occur when human select certain individuals to produce the most offspring.
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What does Fitness mean?
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Fitness means the ability of an individual to produce offspring.
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What is an Adaptation?
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An Adaptation is a trait that increases the fitness of an individual in a particular environment.
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What are the two main ideas of the cell theory and theory of evolution?
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1. The cell is the fundamental structural unit in all organisms.
2. All species are related by common ancestry and have changed over time in response to natural selection. |
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What is Speciation?
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Speciation is the divergence process in which natural selection has caused populations of one species to diverge and form and new species.
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What is the Tree of Life?
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The Tree of Life is a family tree of organisms.
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Who is the scientist that began analyzing the chemical components of organisms, as a way to understand the phylogeny of all organism?
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The scientist is Carl Woese.
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What is Phylogeny?
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Phylogeny is the actual genealogical relationships of all organisms.
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What are Eukaryotes?
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Eukaryotes are cells that have a prominent component called the nucleus. (Mostly animals and plants)
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What are Prokaryotes?
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Prokaryotes are cells that lack a nucleus. (Mostly bacteria and archaea)
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What is Taxonomy?
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Taxonomy is the effort to name and classify organisms.
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What is a Taxon?
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A Taxon is any named group.
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What are the 3 domains of life?
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The 3 domains of life are the Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya.
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What is a Phylum?
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A Phylum refers to the major lineages within each domain.
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Who is the Swedish botanist that established a system for naming species?
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His name is Carolus Linnaeus.
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What are the two parts of a scientific name?
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The two parts of a scientific name are the Genus name (capitalized) and species name (lowercase)
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What is a Genus?
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A Genus is made up of a closely related group of species.
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What are the two steps in hypothesis testing?
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The two steps are:
1. State the hypothesis as precisely as possible and list the predictions it makes. 2. Design an observational or experimental study that is capable of testing those predictions. |
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Why are experiments a powerful scientific tool?
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Experiments are powerful scientific tools because they allow researchers to test the effect of a single, well-defined factor on a particular phenomenon.
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What is the main aspect of a good scientific hypotheis?
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The main aspect is that the scientific hypothesis is able to make testable predictions - predictions that can be supported or rejected by collecting and analyzing data.
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What is a Null Hypothesis?
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A Null Hypothesis specifies what we should observe when the hypothesis being tested isn't correct.
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What does a Control Group check for?
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A Control Group checks for factors, other than the one being tested, that might influence the experiment's outcome.
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